How Things Can Change
by anonwriter64
Summary: Written for Round 10 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.


Position: Chaser 3

Team: Holyhead Harpies

Write about Bellatrix Lestrange surviving the war.

Additional Prompts:

8\. (color) Ruby

9\. (spell) Crucio

12\. (dialogue) "Have you been crying?"

"How Things Can Change"

"Not my daughter, you bitch!" Molly Weasley shouts above the noise and chaos of the war around the pair.

Bellatrix Lestrange cackles in elation as she watches the matriarch of the Weasley family approaching her seconds after she had thrown a killing curse at her youngest daughter. Bellatrix knew Molly Weasley would never stand a chance against her - Voldemort's most powerful lieutenant.

"Oh, Molly, dear! So nice to see you! How's Fred doing? Alright, I hope?" Bellatrix taunted, cackling gleefully as she watched the other woman pull out of her wand. "Probably staying home with Gideon and Fabian, right? I haven't seen either in a while… I wonder where they went?"

Molly cast the first spell but failed to catch her opponent off guard. Bellatrix put up a powerful shield and smirked. "I can't wait to complete the collection!" She exclaimed happily, dropping her shield and shooting a blasting curse back at the redhead.

The battle continued for many minutes, Molly Weasley was offering much more of a challenge than Bellatrix had expected. But Molly's age and lack of practice were beginning to show.

With one final cackle and a grin, Bellatrix finished it. "Avada Kedavra!"

With a flash of green light and a thud, followed by insane giggling, Molly Weasley was dead.

Over the course of the battle, most of the Great Hall had cleared out, but three other people were still duelling. Nymphadora Tonks and Ginny Weasley were still fighting against Antonin Dolohov.

Ginny had been looking over to check on the state of her mother's battle multiple times and when she checked it for the final times, she collapsed. Tonks looked at her friend in shock, and in that moment of distraction, her opponent took advantage of her.

As Tonks fell and her eyes clouded over, Bellatrix began cackling again. "Leave her to me, Dolohov. I'll handle her."

A quick nod had Dolohov exiting, leaving a numb Ginny and an elated Bellatrix. Bellatrix skipped towards the girl, relishing in her fresh pain from witnessing the death of her mother. She spun around the sixth-year, playing with her hair as she hummed a tune.

Ginny began sobbing pitifully, satisfying Bellatrix even more. "Aw, has little Ginny been crying? Well, your poor little mummy is gone now, and she's never, ever, ever coming back!"

Bellatrix pulled out her wand and Ginny found herself unable to react. One spell later left Ginny pinned to the wall, shards of wood driven through her hands and feet. A bone-chilling scream delighted Bellatrix's ears. "Oh, Ginny, dear, this is only the beginning! _Crucio_!"

Ginny sobbed, screaming out for her friends to help her as Bellatrix began to torture her relentlessly. But Bellatrix was the only one to see her up until hours later when the next person entered the Great Hall. By that point, the ruby red liquid dripping down the walls turned to a dark brown.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

"Bellatrix, check if he's breathing," Voldemort turned to his second-hand, gesturing for her to move forward.

She quickly complied, giggling quietly in happiness. She skipped forward and leaned over the Boy-Who-Lived, listening for his breath. Despite his best attempts to hold his breath, he couldn't bring himself to hold his breath for more than a few seconds.

"Have you seen your girlfriend yet?"

The simple question left Bellatrix's mouth in a whisper, with a small giggle following. Such an innocent statement sent more waves of emotion through Harry than he had ever felt before.

His breath hitched, and he jerked. His arms flew on their own accord and he went for Bellatris's neck. He squeezed with as much force as he could, hoping to crush her windpipe.

At least a dozen spells were sent in Harry's direction within a few seconds.

And, within a few seconds, Harry Potter was dead.

The only signal given to the world was a hoarse cackle from Bellatrix Lestrange, who, despite Harry's final last-ditch efforts, remained in the land of the living.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Harry Potter… Is dead," Voldemort spoke ominously over the small crowd that remained of his enemies.

Although the Death Eaters were not in good shape, having lost over two-thirds of their forces, their strongest pieces still remained. But the Light was doing even worse.

Hardly any more of their more important figures were standing, most faces were streaked with dried tears. Bellatrix had been incredibly resilient throughout the battle, having one of her highest kill counts from her whole time as a Death Eater.

She was quite proud of herself. There were more people than she could count and she could hardly think through them without giggling. Everyone still standing to protect Hogwarts had lost at least one loved one to the might of Bellatrix Lestrange.

The crowd didn't respond to the Dark Lord's words. They just looked on, numb with pain over their losses. Ron Weasley, on the other hand, shook with anger.

Ron had lost much during this battle - more than he even knew. Nobody had ventured into the Great Hall to find the bodies of the two Weasley women. However, he did know of the death of his brother, Fred, and his girlfriend, Hermione.

Hermione had been another of the several victims of Bellatrix's cruelty of that night. That was all Ron knew, as the other witnesses of the scene of Hermione's death wouldn't dare repeat what they saw. He was better off not knowing anyway.

The anger that Ron felt was stronger than he had ever felt. A need for vengeance. A need to avenge. To avenge his girlfriend. To avenge his brother. To avenge his best friend.

And surprisingly enough, Ron Weasley succeeded in his vengeance.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

It had been a matter of good timing.

That's all Ron Weasley could think as he sat on the set of stairs near the Great Hall, alone. He was twirling the Elder Wand between his fingers. He knew it wasn't his - it had been Harry's - but he wasn't sure who else it should go to.

It had been perfect - almost too much so. Nagini had been slain mere moments before Ron managed to get in a lucky shot - a simple stunning spell. McGonagall had finished him off, but congratulated Ron nonetheless.

Ron was snapped out of his thoughts by a familiar blonde walking his way. "Hello, Ron."

"Hey, Luna," Ron answered, without the hint of annoyance that usually coated his tone when he was talking to Luna. He didn't have the energy anymore.

"Have you been crying?" She asked quietly, tilting her head. She had never seen Ron cry before.

Even Ron was caught off guard. He touched his fingers to his face and found that he had, in fact, been crying. While his thoughts had been focused on previous events, his subconscious had been replaying old memories of better times. "I- I guess so."

Luna sat next to him, putting an arm around his shoulder. "I'm very sorry, Ron."

"Yeah. I'm sorry too," Ron muttered. Luna sent him a confused look. "It wasn't supposed to end this way. Harry was supposed to be the one to end it all. He was supposed to survive. It was supposed to be one or the other. 'Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.'"

A moment of silence settled between the two and when Luna went to speak, she was cut off by a scream and a muted sob.

Ron and Luna both jumped to action and ran to the source of the scream. They found Susan Bones at the door of the Great Hall, staring at something.

"What is-"

Stunned silence ended the question before it could even be asked.

An uncharacteristic shriek came from Luna's mouth as she fell into a dead faint. Susan jumped to her side, but couldn't tear her eyes from the sight of Ginny's body.

Ron had only been able to look for a few seconds, but it was enough for him to understand what had just happened. His sister was dead.

His baby sister. The resilient, strong-willed girl who used to sneak into the broomshed and fly at night when her brothers wouldn't let her fly with them. The girl who had been traumatised at the tender age of eleven but fought through her pain and recovered. The girl who Ron knew and loved.

Now, she was just the girl pinned against the wall by her hands and feet, brutally mutilated by none other than the Dark Lord's right-hand woman.

It took everything Ron had not to collapse in that moment. To fall to the ground and never move again. But he fought through it. He tore his eyes away and tried to find something else to comfort him. But it only made it worse.

The second body Ron spotted was Tonks. Ron couldn't help but feel a little bit relieved. He had never been particularly close with Tonks.

He felt bad for not feeling more disheartened at the death of a comrade. Whatever relief he might had felt was torn away quickly - Harry would have been devastated. Remus had been killed earlier on in the battle…

That meant Teddy would have nobody.

Thoughts of even more depression took over Ron's mind. He had never been at such a low point and didn't know how to handle it.

That was when he spotted her.

Molly.

Ron Weasley didn't think of anything else for they day - much less think about anything.

Instead, he held his brothers and his father close as they all sobbed tears of complete and utter devastation.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Months later, Ron could be found sitting in an audience by himself, watching with grim satisfaction as he watched the scene in front of him unfold.

"I hereby declare that Bellatrix Lestrange, née Black, is found guilty of all crimes she has been accused of, including but not limited to 21 counts of murder, 32 counts of torture, and 57 counts of assault. The dementor's kiss will be administered immediately," Kingsley announced to the courtroom.

There were no objections - not one person. All know associates with Death Eaters had been swiftly removed from any position of authority after the war. It lifted a large weight off of Ron and his family's shoulders as it had been a constant suspicion over the last ten years.

The dementors were led into the courtroom and the temperature dropped. The affect that the dementors had on him was ten times worse than it had been in the past, but he did his best to ignore the effects and watch the scene in front of him.

Bellatrix giggled until the very end, watching in delight as the dementor neared. She relished in the negative emotions and thrived in conditions that Ron would have collapsed under. He watched in undisguised interest as the light was drained from her eyes.

It was scary for most of the audience members to watch the mass murderer finally be brought to her end. To watch someone who had always been so full of life so empty was disconcerting.

Ron had thought the death of Bellatrix Lestrange would bring him happiness, but it only brought a feeling that reminded him of how truly empty he was inside.


End file.
